Medusa is an ancient monster from Greek (and later Roman) mythology who is most famous for her beheading at the hands of the Argive hero Perseus. Medusa and her two sisters, Sthenno and Euryale, are Gorgons; serpent-haired beasts with the power to turn anybody who looks at them into stone. Medusa, Euryale, and Sthenno are the children of Phorcys, a primeval sea god, and his sister Ceto. Of the three sisters, Medusa is the only mortal one. The reason for her mortality is never explained.
Like many myths and legends from antiquity, the story of Medusa has evolved and changed with time; added upon and dramatized by the scholars, authors, and artists of history. Also like the rest of the Greek myths, the tale of Medusa began as an oral tradition before it was recorded.
The first written traces of the Medusa myth are seen in a tablet called “The Shield of Hercules” dating back to eighth century BC and commonly attributed to the ancient poet Hesiod. However, this work is at best fragmented and incomplete and modern day scholars can glean very little from its’ contents. A fifth century BC mythologist known as Pherekydes is believed to be the next source of written content concerning Medusa, but much of Pherekydes’ work has been lost.
It was not until the first or second century AD that a mythologist known as Apollodorus consolidated all previous accounts and stories of Medusa and Perseus into a single myth that most closely resembles the one that is retold today. Modern-day scholars know very little about Apollodorus except that he was most likely Athenian and drew most of his knowledge about Medusa from the works of Hesiod and Pherekydes.
Centuries after Apollodorus, the Roman writer Ovid described Medusa as having the hair of snakes with which she is now famously associated. Ovid also claimed in his Metamorphoses that Medusa had once been a beautiful priestess to the gods but was raped by Poseidon in the temple of Athena. Angered, Athena turned Medusa’s beauty into ugliness and cursed her with the power to turn all living things that looked upon her into stone.
The Myth of Medusa and Perseus
Although there are many varying accounts of the story of Medusa and her murderer Perseus, for the purpose of this project, the story as it is set forth by Apollodorus will be the one focused on as it now considered the “canonical” version of the myth. The story begins with Acrisius, the king of Argos which was the oldest city in ancient Greece. Acrisius had only one child, a daughter named Danae (her name meant “woman of the Danaans” whom were the inhabitants of Argos). Fearful that without a male heir his line would die with him, Acrisius went to an oracle seeking advice on how to continue his lineage. Instead, the oracle informed the Danaan king that his daughter would bear a son who would eventually kill him. Determined to defy the fates, Acrisius locked Danae away in a dungeon chamber so that his daughter would never encounter men. However, Zeus, disguised as a shower of gold, sprinkled through the bars of Danae’s cell and impregnated her. Once Acrisius discovered his daughter was with child, he sealed her and her son, Perseus, in a chest and cast them into the sea.
The chest was discovered by a fisherman on the Cycladic island of Seriphos. In time, the King of Seriphos (whose name was Polydektes), fell in love with Perseus’ mother Danae. However, Perseus had grown to manhood by then and opposed Polydektes in his efforts to win over his mother. The King called a meeting of all his friends and requested a horse from each of them as a show of good faith. Mocking the king, Perseus joked that he would bring him the head of a gorgon. Polydektes sensed an opportunity to eliminate Perseus and held the young man to his word.
At this point, Perseus lamented his plight because the gorgon was a deadly creature. However, Hermes, the messenger of the gods, came to Perseus and offered the young hero his help as well as the guidance of Athena. Accepting both, Perseus was told to travel to the home of the Graiae. The Graiae were three sisters named Enyo, Pemphredo, and Dino and between the three, they had one tooth and one eye which they passed amongst themselves in order to see. The Graiae shared the same parents with the trio of Gorgon sisters making the two sets of unworldly triplets sisters. Perseus snuck into their midst and waited until the eye and tooth were being handed from one of the sisters to the other. After intercepting the Graiae’s eye, Perseus informed them that he would only return it if they told him where to find the nymphs because they possessed the mythical weapons he would need to defeat the gorgons. By some accounts, after learning what he needed to know, Perseus threw the eye off of the mountainside instead of returning it as he had promised.
From the nymphs, Perseus received three important gifts: a pair of winged sandals that enabled him to fly, the cap of Hades which turned its’ wearer invisible, and a kibisis which was a sort of special bag in which he was instructed to store the gorgon head. Hermes also gave Perseus a sickle-shaped sword known as a harpe. This is the traditional sword of Perseus and he is often depicted in art wielding a curved sword. After receiving his gifts from the nymphs and his divine benefactor, Perseus was ready to face the gorgons.
Apollodorus’ description of the gorgons is summarized in a passage by Stephen Wilk: “The Gorgons had scaly heads, boar’s tusks, brazen hands and wings. They had protruding tongues, glaring eyes, and serpents wrapped around their waists as belts.” (Wilk 21) The addition of hair made of snakes (which is Medusa’s defining characteristic) did not make its’ literary debut until Ovid’s Metamorphoses generations later.
Perseus snuck into the midst of the gorgons while they slept by using the winged sandals he had received from the nymphs. Guided by the hand of Athena, Perseus used a mirror (according to Apollodorus it was a highly polished shield) to find Medusa without looking at her face (lest he be turned to stone) and beheaded her using the sword given to him by Hermes. From the wound sprung Medusa’s children: Pegasus the winged steed and Chrysaor, the warrior with the golden sword. According to Hesiod’s Theogony, Poseidon was the father of Medusa’s children. The commotion awoke Medusa’s sisters but Perseus threw on Hades’ cap of invisibility and fled from the lair before they could attack him.
On his return trip to Seriphos, Perseus used Medusa’s head to turn the sea monster Ketos into stone in order to save Andromeda, a young princess who had been chained to a rock as a sacrifice to Ketos. Perseus later used Medusa’s head to turn Polydektes (the man who was pursuing his mother and for whom the head had originally been intended for) and his forces to stone. After his deeds were done and his weapons returned to the nymphs, Perseus gave the head of Medusa to Athena who placed it on her aegis, which could refer to her shield, breastplate, or both.
Medusa in Literature
Hesiod’s Theogony
The first complete mention of Medusa and her gorgon sisters in Greek literature was in Hesiod’s Theogony: And the Gorgons, who live beyond glorious Ocean/ On Night’s frontier near the shrill Hesperides,/ Stheno, Euryale, and Medousa, who suffered,/ Being mortal, while her two sisters were deathless/ And ageless too. The Dark-manned One bedded her/ In a meadow soft with springtime flowers./ When Perseus cut the head from her neck,/ Great Chrysaor leaped out, and Pegasos the horse. (Theogony lns. 275-281)
Hesiod’s account lists the three sisters and asserts that Medusa is the only mortal of the three. It also gives historians the earliest glimpse of the story of Perseus and his beheading of Medusa; from which Pegasus and Chrysaor were born.
Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey
Although Homer does not directly mention Medusa, he makes a reference to the gorgons in The Iliad when he describes the aegis of Athena as well as the shield of Agamemnon as both having the face of the gorgon on them. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is frightened as he leaves the Underworld because he fears that Persephone will send the head of the gorgon to torment him: “Lest for my daring Persephone the dread, From Hades should send up an awful monster's grisly head” (Odyssey xi).
Virgil’s The Aeneid
The Roman poet Virgil makes a very brief mention of the gorgons in his Aeneid and essentially equates them with other beasts and monsters of the underworld: “Hissing horribly, the Chimaera armed with flame,/ Gorgons, Harpies, and the hybrid shade of Geryon” (Aeneid VI lns. 356-357).
Medusa in Art (Cultural Significance)
According to the late 19th century German scholar Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, the development of the Gorgon in art can be divided into three distinct categories: the Archaic Gorgon (8th century BC-5th century BC), the Transitional or Middle Gorgon (late 5th century BC-late 2nd Century BC), and the Late or Beautiful Gorgon (4th century BC onward).
The Archaic Gorgon
The Archaic Gorgon has “wide-open, staring eyes and a broad grinning or snarling mouth filled with prominent teeth, usually with both upper and lower fangs. Despite the toothy display, there is a prominent, painfully protruding tongue.” (Wilk 31). Perhaps most interesting about the Archaic Gorgon is its’ full-face depiction in art. During this time, heroes and gods were always shown in profile. As Stephen Wilk puts it: “there is an eeriness, a power to such depictions, especially the emphasis on the eyes, often shown larger relative to other facial features than they should be, giving one a sense of a creature that could truly turn the beholder to stone” (Wilk 32). A notable difference between depictions of the Archaic Gorgon and her artistic heirs is the lack of snaky hair which had yet to be added to the literary description of Medusa and her sisters.
The Transitional Gorgon
The Transitional Gorgon saw their “head shrink relative to the bodies and acquire necks. The general wildness of the Gorgon’s appearance was toned down” (Wilk 33). Depictions of the Middle Gorgons in the latter half of the 2nd century BC also began to include hair made of snakes.
The Beautiful Gorgon
The Beautiful or Late Gorgon marked the acceptance of the gorgon as a traditional figure as she began to be depicted in profile or three-quarter view. Also, this final division marks the transition of the gorgon from beast to beauty. “No longer does she have a beard and fangs. The rectus grin is gone, too, and the scowling stare has been replaced by a softer look. The Gorgon ceases to be a monster and becomes a young woman” (Wilk 34-35). It would not be until the Italian Renaissance that the Gorgon and Medusa returned to art and literature as a horrific beast.
Bibliography
Cellini, Benvenuto. Perseus Holding the Head of Medusa. 1554. Uffizi Museum of Art. Florence, Italy
“Hand Mirror with the Head of Medusa.” Placard. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, CA, 2011. Print.
Hesiod. Hesiod: Works & Days & Theogony. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Cambridge: Hackett, 1993. Print.
Homer. Iliad. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 1997. Print.
Homer. Odyssey. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 2000. Print.
Mass, Georgia S. "Medusa." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. Pepperdine University. Web. 27 June 2011. <www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t294.e783>.
Siebers, Tobin. The Mirror of Medusa. Christchurch, New Zealand: Cybereditions Corporation, 2001. Worldcat.org. Web. 27 June 2011. <http://http:site.ebrary.com.lib.pepperdine.edu/lib/pepperdine/docDetail.action?docID=5005530>.
“Storage Jar with Medusa.” Placard. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, CA, 2011. Print.
Unknown. “Storage Jar with Medusa.” 530 BC. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, Ca
Unknown. “Wall Fragment with Medusa.” 500 BC. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, Ca
Unknown. “Wall Mosaic of Medusa.” 210 BC. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, Ca
Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. New York: Viking, 2006. Print.
Wilk, Stephen R. Medusa: Solving the History of the Gorgon. New York: New York Oxford UP, 1999. Net Library. Web. 27 June 2011. <http://http://www.netlibrary.com.lib.pepperdine.edu/Details.aspx?ProductId=41702&Terms=medusa&ReturnLabel=lnkSearchResults&ReturnPath=/Search/SearchResults.aspx>.
Medusa
Medusa is an ancient monster from Greek (and later Roman) mythology who is most famous for her beheading at the hands of the Argive hero Perseus. Medusa and her two sisters, Sthenno and Euryale, are Gorgons; serpent-haired beasts with the power to turn anybody who looks at them into stone. Medusa, Euryale, and Sthenno are the children of Phorcys, a primeval sea god, and his sister Ceto. Of the three sisters, Medusa is the only mortal one. The reason for her mortality is never explained.Table of Contents
Origin
Like many myths and legends from antiquity, the story of Medusa has evolved and changed with time; added upon and dramatized by the scholars, authors, and artists of history. Also like the rest of the Greek myths, the tale of Medusa began as an oral tradition before it was recorded.The first written traces of the Medusa myth are seen in a tablet called “The Shield of Hercules” dating back to eighth century BC and commonly attributed to the ancient poet Hesiod. However, this work is at best fragmented and incomplete and modern day scholars can glean very little from its’ contents. A fifth century BC mythologist known as Pherekydes is believed to be the next source of written content concerning Medusa, but much of Pherekydes’ work has been lost.
It was not until the first or second century AD that a mythologist known as Apollodorus consolidated all previous accounts and stories of Medusa and Perseus into a single myth that most closely resembles the one that is retold today. Modern-day scholars know very little about Apollodorus except that he was most likely Athenian and drew most of his knowledge about Medusa from the works of Hesiod and Pherekydes.
Centuries after Apollodorus, the Roman writer Ovid described Medusa as having the hair of snakes with which she is now famously associated. Ovid also claimed in his Metamorphoses that Medusa had once been a beautiful priestess to the gods but was raped by Poseidon in the temple of Athena. Angered, Athena turned Medusa’s beauty into ugliness and cursed her with the power to turn all living things that looked upon her into stone.
The Myth of Medusa and Perseus
Although there are many varying accounts of the story of Medusa and her murderer Perseus, for the purpose of this project, the story as it is set forth by Apollodorus will be the one focused on as it now considered the “canonical” version of the myth. The story begins with Acrisius, the king of Argos which was the oldest city in ancient Greece. Acrisius had only one child, a daughter named Danae (her name meant “woman of the Danaans” whom were the inhabitants of Argos). Fearful that without a male heir his line would die with him, Acrisius went to an oracle seeking advice on how to continue his lineage. Instead, the oracle informed the Danaan king that his daughter would bear a son who would eventually kill him. Determined to defy the fates, Acrisius locked Danae away in a dungeon chamber so that his daughter would never encounter men. However, Zeus, disguised as a shower of gold, sprinkled through the bars of Danae’s cell and impregnated her. Once Acrisius discovered his daughter was with child, he sealed her and her son, Perseus, in a chest and cast them into the sea.The chest was discovered by a fisherman on the Cycladic island of Seriphos. In time, the King of Seriphos (whose name was Polydektes), fell in love with Perseus’ mother Danae. However, Perseus had grown to manhood by then and opposed Polydektes in his efforts to win over his mother. The King called a meeting of all his friends and requested a horse from each of them as a show of good faith. Mocking the king, Perseus joked that he would bring him the head of a gorgon. Polydektes sensed an opportunity to eliminate Perseus and held the young man to his word.
At this point, Perseus lamented his plight because the gorgon was a deadly creature. However, Hermes, the messenger of the gods, came to Perseus and offered the young hero his help as well as the guidance of Athena. Accepting both, Perseus was told to travel to the home of the Graiae. The Graiae were three sisters named Enyo, Pemphredo, and Dino and between the three, they had one tooth and one eye which they passed amongst themselves in order to see. The Graiae shared the same parents with the trio of Gorgon sisters making the two sets of unworldly triplets sisters. Perseus snuck into their midst and waited until the eye and tooth were being handed from one of the sisters to the other. After intercepting the Graiae’s eye, Perseus informed them that he would only return it if they told him where to find the nymphs because they possessed the mythical weapons he would need to defeat the gorgons. By some accounts, after learning what he needed to know, Perseus threw the eye off of the mountainside instead of returning it as he had promised.
From the nymphs, Perseus received three important gifts: a pair of winged sandals that enabled him to fly, the cap of Hades which turned its’ wearer invisible, and a kibisis which was a sort of special bag in which he was instructed to store the gorgon head. Hermes also gave Perseus a sickle-shaped sword known as a harpe. This is the traditional sword of Perseus and he is often depicted in art wielding a curved sword. After receiving his gifts from the nymphs and his divine benefactor, Perseus was ready to face the gorgons.
Apollodorus’ description of the gorgons is summarized in a passage by Stephen Wilk: “The Gorgons had scaly heads, boar’s tusks, brazen hands and wings. They had protruding tongues, glaring eyes, and serpents wrapped around their waists as belts.” (Wilk 21) The addition of hair made of snakes (which is Medusa’s defining characteristic) did not make its’ literary debut until Ovid’s Metamorphoses generations later.
Perseus snuck into the midst of the gorgons while they slept by using the winged sandals he had received from the nymphs. Guided by the hand of Athena, Perseus used a mirror (according to Apollodorus it was a highly polished shield) to find Medusa without looking at her face (lest he be turned to stone) and beheaded her using the sword given to him by Hermes. From the wound sprung Medusa’s children: Pegasus the winged steed and Chrysaor, the warrior with the golden sword. According to Hesiod’s Theogony, Poseidon was the father of Medusa’s children. The commotion awoke Medusa’s sisters but Perseus threw on Hades’ cap of invisibility and fled from the lair before they could attack him.
On his return trip to Seriphos, Perseus used Medusa’s head to turn the sea monster Ketos into stone in order to save Andromeda, a young princess who had been chained to a rock as a sacrifice to Ketos. Perseus later used Medusa’s head to turn Polydektes (the man who was pursuing his mother and for whom the head had originally been intended for) and his forces to stone. After his deeds were done and his weapons returned to the nymphs, Perseus gave the head of Medusa to Athena who placed it on her aegis, which could refer to her shield, breastplate, or both.
Medusa in Literature
Hesiod’s Theogony
The first complete mention of Medusa and her gorgon sisters in Greek literature was in Hesiod’s Theogony:And the Gorgons, who live beyond glorious Ocean/ On Night’s frontier near the shrill Hesperides,/ Stheno, Euryale, and Medousa, who suffered,/ Being mortal, while her two sisters were deathless/ And ageless too. The Dark-manned One bedded her/ In a meadow soft with springtime flowers./ When Perseus cut the head from her neck,/ Great Chrysaor leaped out, and Pegasos the horse. (Theogony lns. 275-281)
Hesiod’s account lists the three sisters and asserts that Medusa is the only mortal of the three. It also gives historians the earliest glimpse of the story of Perseus and his beheading of Medusa; from which Pegasus and Chrysaor were born.
Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey
Although Homer does not directly mention Medusa, he makes a reference to the gorgons in The Iliad when he describes the aegis of Athena as well as the shield of Agamemnon as both having the face of the gorgon on them. In The Odyssey, Odysseus is frightened as he leaves the Underworld because he fears that Persephone will send the head of the gorgon to torment him: “Lest for my daring Persephone the dread, From Hades should send up an awful monster's grisly head” (Odyssey xi).Virgil’s The Aeneid
The Roman poet Virgil makes a very brief mention of the gorgons in his Aeneid and essentially equates them with other beasts and monsters of the underworld: “Hissing horribly, the Chimaera armed with flame,/ Gorgons, Harpies, and the hybrid shade of Geryon” (Aeneid VI lns. 356-357).Medusa in Art (Cultural Significance)
According to the late 19th century German scholar Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, the development of the Gorgon in art can be divided into three distinct categories: the Archaic Gorgon (8th century BC-5th century BC), the Transitional or Middle Gorgon (late 5th century BC-late 2nd Century BC), and the Late or Beautiful Gorgon (4th century BC onward).The Archaic Gorgon
The Archaic Gorgon has “wide-open, staring eyes and a broad grinning or snarling mouth filled with prominent teeth, usually with both upper and lower fangs. Despite the toothy display, there is a prominent, painfully protruding tongue.” (Wilk 31). Perhaps most interesting about the Archaic Gorgon is its’ full-face depiction in art. During this time, heroes and gods were always shown in profile. As Stephen Wilk puts it: “there is an eeriness, a power to such depictions, especially the emphasis on the eyes, often shown larger relative to other facial features than they should be, giving one a sense of a creature that could truly turn the beholder to stone” (Wilk 32). A notable difference between depictions of the Archaic Gorgon and her artistic heirs is the lack of snaky hair which had yet to be added to the literary description of Medusa and her sisters.The Transitional Gorgon
The Transitional Gorgon saw their “head shrink relative to the bodies and acquire necks. The general wildness of the Gorgon’s appearance was toned down” (Wilk 33). Depictions of the Middle Gorgons in the latter half of the 2nd century BC also began to include hair made of snakes.The Beautiful Gorgon
The Beautiful or Late Gorgon marked the acceptance of the gorgon as a traditional figure as she began to be depicted in profile or three-quarter view. Also, this final division marks the transition of the gorgon from beast to beauty. “No longer does she have a beard and fangs. The rectus grin is gone, too, and the scowling stare has been replaced by a softer look. The Gorgon ceases to be a monster and becomes a young woman” (Wilk 34-35). It would not be until the Italian Renaissance that the Gorgon and Medusa returned to art and literature as a horrific beast.Bibliography
Cellini, Benvenuto. Perseus Holding the Head of Medusa. 1554. Uffizi Museum of Art. Florence, Italy“Hand Mirror with the Head of Medusa.” Placard. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, CA, 2011. Print.
Hesiod. Hesiod: Works & Days & Theogony. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Cambridge: Hackett, 1993. Print.
Homer. Iliad. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 1997. Print.
Homer. Odyssey. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 2000. Print.
Mass, Georgia S. "Medusa." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome. Pepperdine University. Web. 27 June 2011. <www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t294.e783>.
Siebers, Tobin. The Mirror of Medusa. Christchurch, New Zealand: Cybereditions Corporation, 2001. Worldcat.org. Web. 27 June 2011. <http://http:site.ebrary.com.lib.pepperdine.edu/lib/pepperdine/docDetail.action?docID=5005530>.
“Storage Jar with Medusa.” Placard. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, CA, 2011. Print.
Unknown. “Storage Jar with Medusa.” 530 BC. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, Ca
Unknown. “Wall Fragment with Medusa.” 500 BC. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, Ca
Unknown. “Wall Mosaic of Medusa.” 210 BC. The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, Ca
Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. Stanley Lombardo. New York: Viking, 2006. Print.
Wilk, Stephen R. Medusa: Solving the History of the Gorgon. New York: New York Oxford UP, 1999. Net Library. Web. 27 June 2011. <http://http://www.netlibrary.com.lib.pepperdine.edu/Details.aspx?ProductId=41702&Terms=medusa&ReturnLabel=lnkSearchResults&ReturnPath=/Search/SearchResults.aspx>.